Women die from gender-based violence far too frequently – a reality that is unacceptable and must change. To help raise awareness for this issue, Havas Peru developed “Minute 8” to call for a nationwide moment of silence in recognition of women who have been victims of femicide.
We spoke to Mauricio Fernandez Maldonado, Chief Creative Officer of Havas Peru, about the campaign and why it is so important.
Can you give us some background on this issue and why it’s so important to draw attention to?
At some point in our lives, we’ve either heard or will hear news about a femicide – but have you ever wondered how often they happen? According to UN data, a woman dies from femicide every 8 minutes globally. We cannot afford to remain silent about this fact. For this reason, we created a way to raise awareness about this problem – paradoxically through a minute of silence. Yet our “minute of silence” had different connotations – it was not only out of respect for women who have suffered, but to highlight the severity of the problem.
How did you concept the campaign? What was that process like?
We found that a “minute of silence” – which people traditionally observe as a sign of respect when people die – was a very powerful vehicle to showcase the tragic data we found. We centred around bringing this to television, deciding on a minute of silence that would occur every 8 minutes, breaking up the continuity that television programmes usually have. Thus, we had a total of 45 minutes of silence in television.
How did you execute the campaign? What were the steps you took to bring it to life?
When we told the idea to our client, he immediately saw how powerful and simple the action was and how important it was to carry it out. We decided to execute this idea on November 25th – International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, as declared by the UN – and it was carried out on all the prime programmes of Movistar Deportes and Movistar Plus. It should be noted that television is the most consumed medium in Peru, allowing our message to spread far and wide.
“We found that a “minute of silence” – which people traditionally observe as a sign of respect when people die – was a very powerful vehicle to showcase the tragic data we found.”
Were there any major successes or challenges you faced bringing it to life?
I feel that the power of this idea is directly correlated with how simple it was to implement it. Another of its strengths is the idea that it started with content and not necessarily traditional advertising, making its impact and reception better.
Can you give us an overview of the results you saw? Was there anything that surprised you?
We had 45 minutes of silence on television, which reached more than 5 million people – equivalent to a sixth of the total population of the country. The action generated lots of free publicity and we were a focal point in news stories coming from various media, which was very important considering that the idea came from a media brand.
